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Twelve years after breaking up, underground death metal favorites, BROKEN HOPE, recently announced their return. The band are set to make their return to stage on the Carnival of Death Tour with headliners OBITUARY and support bands DECREPIT BIRTH, JUNGLE ROT and ENCRUST.

In a recent statement, BROKEN HOPE guitarists Jeremy Wagner and Shaun Glass stated, “For over a decade, we’ve listened to fans worldwide who’ve asked us to return. We’ve listened to our peers in bands who seen us at shows and said, ‘when is BROKEN HOPE coming back?’ Well, you have finally been heard, and frankly, we just miss it too goddamn much—the clubs, the metal, but especially you: the diehards, the most.

“We decided as a first step to return back to the place that always felt like home: the road! So we are proud to announce that this fall, BROKEN HOPE will join forces with OBITUARY and join the Carnival Of Death tour! This tour will solidify that extreme music is still alive and well, we are ready, focused, and hungry to show you what we have in stored for you all! Moreover, we cherish and promote the legacy of our fallen brother, vocalist Joe Ptacek, as we travel from show to show and honor him, he will not be forgotten. With this being said, we would like to introduce Damian Leski of GORGASM on vocal duties, who will handle the tough task for the upcoming tours. Be ready to be ‘Swamped in Gore‘!!!!”

Fresh off the July 12th release of their excellent new album, Carnival is Forever (read our review here), Poland’s DECAPITATED are headed to North America for a headlining tour alongside DECREPIT BIRTH, FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, RINGS OF SATURN, and THE HAARP MACHINE.

“We began recording the new album Polarity on Thursday at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland California. We are happy to say that everything is going very smoothly! This is an awesome recording facility and by far the best place we have worked in yet. We started by setting up and tracking KC‘s drums. With the help of engineer Zack Ohren, we are confident that this album will have our best production to date!

“Concepts for new material are very special to us on a personal level. The lyrics reflect on the world around us, visions of the future, the coming together of energy, and the balance of life both positive and negative. We also feel that the music and concepts are very tied together, so that the music actually embodies the emotions of the lyrical concepts. It’s something we’ve always tried to do but this time it really feels right. We describe it as ‘death metal from the soul.’

“We have posted a video and pictures of us working in the studio, please check them out and comment! Stay tuned for more videos of the recording process.”

Anticipation for an extreme metal show was high in the mostly conservative area known as Orange County, CA. Immediately after walking inside the venue, I noticed a strangely high proportion amount of teens and young metalheads in the crowd, with a majority of them wearing either WARBRINGER or MUNICIPAL WASTE shirts. LAZARUS A.D., who had recently stepped in for this tour, since the drummer of DECREPIT BIRTH had quit just a night before, had just ended their set.

Australia’s THE AMENTA got on stage and caught some interest to inquisitive minds with their industrial fused death/grind, which was certainly an interesting mix. Frontman Cain Cressal intrigued the crowd with his energy and stage diving. Ripping through a few of their more well known tracks, THE AMENTA impressed the crowd, but these fresh faces were eager for their neo-thrash heroes to come on.

As soon as WARBRINGER hit the stage, a flurry of hair, arms, and legs appeared in the pit, with the majority of the crowd enjoying the breakdowns and thrash riffings of the new-school thrash group. Unfortunately, this young crowd gives more praise to a band like WARBRINGER rather than the original legends, such as KREATOR, SODOM, and EXODUS, but nevertheless these thrashers got the high-top wearing crowd going with “Pray for Death.” Frontman John Kevill seemed real appreciative of the enthusiasm demonstrated by the kids.

Some of the crowd dispersed as the Polish war machine was ready to hit the stage, but many stayed, as this was probably their first time seeing a true underground metal band from outside the states. VADER opened with “Devilizer”, and the energy from this well-oiled machine was intense. Vogg’s precision playing and headbanging provided an excellent balance to Peter’s gruff vocals and shrieking solos. The songs were played about one-and-a-half to twice as fast, so all negative thoughts about “the new drummer of VADER” was put to rest. The band plowed through the set with fury, unleashing hell with “Sothis”, “Rise of the Undead”, and mandatory crowd favorites “Wings” and “Carnal”. The young crowd looked lost during the older tracks, such as “The Wrath”, and “Dark Age”, as the kids probably weren’t born yet when these songs were released. The band blasted through a few songs off Necropolis, to promote the new album, and after only about 35 minutes, VADER had to end their set short, due to the strict all ages venue guidelines. However, Peter announced that the band will be back in April with OVERKILL and destroyed the crowd by finishing them off with “This is the War” and “Lead Us!”

It’s a shame that this is Vogg’s last tour with VADER, but he will be where his heart is with DECAPITATED. VADER is and always will be pure 100% death metal, and this is why VADER is still one of the underrated, but top bands in the underground metal scene.

I arrived at the Blender Theater shortly as Canada’s AUGURY hit the stage (I’m not sure how ROSE FUNERAL sounded or fared in front of the packed Blender crowd, they could have been atrociously bad or phenomenal, but I’m sure they have a myspace for you to check out).AUGURY specializes in sweeping guitar runs, overly technical passages, and competent albeit somewhat bland song structures that neither offend or impress. A tour with THE FACELESS would be ideal, as both bands keep their performances extremely stiff, yet tight, setting up an evening of music appreciation as opposed to rocking out in any way. Drummer Robin Stone of THE AMENTA filled in admirably on the kit filling in for the recently departed Antoine Baril for AUGURY and the band managed to be unimpressive yet solid at the same time.

Up next was THE AMENTA from Down Under making their U.S. tour debut. Offering up industrial-tinged blackened death, the Aussies blasted their way through material from their excellent Occasus debut as well as offering up some tracks from follow up, n0n. Vocalist Cain Cressal does the psycho singer thing well, contorting his face in any number of weirdo positions as the band plowed away through their set.

WARBRINGER arrived next much to the delight of numerous pre-pubescent attendees who have no interest in “the old man thrash” sounds of classic bands such as DARK ANGEL, SLAYER, or EXODUS, and have instead opted to be wowed by a band stealing riffs from the aforementioned. Nevertheless, WARBRINGER received strong support as the kids chanted the band’s name with great enthusiasm. While I’m still not 100% sold on their “Johnny-come-lately new thrash on the block” sound, the band has improved significantly since their early tour with NILE, and kept the crowd rocking throughout their short set.

Santa Cruz, California isn’t known for being a hotbed of death metal talent, but ambassadors DECREPIT BIRTH made a strong case for the SC scene as they unleashed a strong set of punishing tracks that flip flopped between material from As Time Begins and Diminishing Between Worlds. Unlike some tech-shred bands that focus entirely on out-teching one another (and in the process lose some grit), DECREPIT BIRTH keeps the fury intact, balancing intensity with technical skill. Charismatic frontman Bill Robinson (who looks more like a member of BUZZOVEN than a death metal singer) kept the audience engaged as the band continued their onslaught. They even previewed a track that they will be on their next album, but unfortunately the title escapes me as it was mumbled by Robinson. Nonetheless it offered up a nice preview of what’s in store from this promising band next year.

Poland’s VADER finally arrived on the scene, and despite the seemingly endless amounts of line-up changes throughout the band’s career, frontman/guitarist/mainman Peter has soldiered on. And for this tour at least, he brought along the very capable Vogg from DECAPITATED.

Despite some shaky sound issues with the venue, the band worked through the classic “Sothis,” with Vogg being able to adjust and nail a lead shortly after a frantic roadie handed him his replacement guitar in mid-song. “Rise of the Undead” from their new Necropolis album kept the proceedings moving along nicely. The band unleashed a plethora of classics from the deep VADER catalog. “Wings,” “Carnal,” “Silent Empire,” “Black to the Blind,” all turned Manhattan into a pit as the band methodically and surgically drove the point home. Apparently Peter had been battling sickness, but based on his fluid solos, crunching rhythms, and throat-scraping vocals, you’d never know the difference as he and band delivered the metal goods with nary a misstep. But Vogg was the highlight of the show as he ripped through the leads like a man possessed , boding well for the future of DECAPITATED. VADER closed out the set with “Dark Age” before heading in to a mini-encore with tracks from The Art of War EP .

Once again, Vader displayed why almost 30 years later, they still deliver the pinnacle of Polish death metal and still possess enough firepower for many more killer tours down the road.

VADER guitarist/vocalist, Piotr “Peter” Wiwczarek, offered some words on the tour:
“Metal always was and still needs to be a brotherhood. All we were doing [in the past] to support the music and the scene was cooperating with other bands. Natural selection decides if a band is really dedicated or if it’s just an episode. Not much has changed today, actually. Even if the so-called ‘metal music business’ changed some rules, there will still be those who play with passion and those who want success. It is not us who wanna be ‘a judge,’ so we always try to tour with bands we have a good relationship with. A good time and a friendly atmosphere is important for all of us. I only hope that everybody will enjoy the tour and will come away with good lessons from it… like we in VADER always do. Deciding on a set list is always a problem. With every new album, the problem grows bigger and bigger. I decide the set list and I’m always confused. Usually, I try to mix some of old VADER hits with new stuff. The set might be different and depends on the conditions. For the upcoming tour through the USA and Canada, we’re gonna make the set slightly different from our shows in Poland and Western Europe. I also asked our fans about their favorite VADER songs. It may help me make a choice. I wish we could play all of our new songs, but it is not possible. I think we’ll do five pieces from Necropolis and mix them in with some old VADER. The veterans and also the new ‘in-VADERs’ will find something interesting for sure! After the maniacs learn the new album better, we can always add more songs.”

The Monsters of Death Tour will also mark the North American debut of VADER’s live line-up: Piotr “Peter” Wiwczarek (guitars/vocals), DECAPITATED‘s Waclaw “Vogg” Kieltyka (guitars), Reyash (bass), and SOUL SNATCHER‘s Pawel Jaroszewicz (drums).

Pre-sale tickets for the Monsters Of Death Tour are available online at www.EnterTheVault.com through July 17th. On July 18th, tickets go on sale through all normal ticketing outlets.

New York’s SUFFOCATION are currently in the studio working on their new album, Blood Oath. The band provided a brief update on their progress:

“We’ve just completed another shift at Full Force Studios (6pm – 2am, typical shift). As for a progress report – we’ve completed all the drum tracking and rhythm and bass guitars as of this past Sunday. What we’ll have left to do starting today is record guitar solos and getting Frank (Mullen) in there to lay down the vocals. We’re looking to wrap it up next week and start rehearsing a set for the up coming ‘Blood Apocalypse Tour‘ soon after that. All in all, we can honestly say this record is SLAMMIN’ HEAVY and we got some nice little twists for ya’ too. We look forward to crushing some stages for you all real fucking soon!

“Also, videographer Jon Bickford has been in the studio with us shooting the final segments (Blood Oath studio sessions and interviews) to be included in the forth coming SUFFOCATION DVD!”

The aforementioned Blood Apocalypse Tour is their upcoming headlining tour featuring support from WHITECHAPEL, BENEATH THE MASSACRE, DECREPIT BIRTH, VEIL OF MAYA, and PSYCROPTIC. The tour kicks off on March 14th in Springfield, Virginia. Confirmed dates are as follows:

The third annual California Metalfest, presented by Nederlander Concerts and Headbang For The Highway, is confirmed for March 28th at The Grove of Anaheim. Confirmed talent thus far includes CARCASS, EXODUS, SUFFOCATION, THE FACELESS, WHITECHAPEL, SAMAEL, ARSIS, DECREPIT BIRTH, VEIL OF MAYA, PSYCROPTIC, and others to be announced in the coming weeks.

The first California Metalfest in 2006 featured headliner NECROPHAGIST in their first Southern California appearance. 2007′s edition was headlined by TESTAMENT.

Extreme metal titans CRYPTOPSY have been forced to cancel their recently announced tour of South America in March, after drummer Flo Mounier broke his knee cap. Mounier had completed the drum tracking process for the groupâ€™s new album prior to the incident, so it did not affect the recording. The tour of South America is expected to be re-scheduled later in 2008.

CRYPTOPSY are currently putting the finishing touches on their sixth full-length, The Unspoken King, which will surface through Century Media this summer. The group recently announced the addition of new frontman Matt McGachy (3 MILE SCREAM) and keyboards/samplist Maggie Durand to their line-up.

Alex Auburn (guitars) states: â€œRight now the band is plunged deeply into the production of the new album and so far everything is going well. Fans will be amazed by the diversity and open minded vision of extremes for this particular entity. Some song titles weâ€™ve been working on are â€˜Worship your Demons,â€™ â€˜Resurgence of An Empireâ€™ and â€˜Silence the Tyrants.â€™ More news to follow soon.â€

CRYPTOPSY will be featured on this yearâ€™s installment of the Summer Slaughter tour throughout North America this summer, which will be preceded by a tour of Mexico and Europe (with DECREPIT BIRTH and UNMERCIFUL).